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Abstract

Prospective epidemiological studies found that the plasma level of factor VII activity was a risk factor for ischemic heart disease (IHD). Our laboratory previously demonstrated that young adults (mean age, 35 years) at high risk of IHD had significantly higher plasma factor VII activity and antigen levels than did comparable young adults at low risk. To study the relation of factor VII with lipid metabolism in even younger adults (less than 30 years), using standard techniques we measured plasma factor VII activity and antigen, plasma fibrinogen, and fasting serum lipid fractions in healthy male and female subjects who were at low risk of IHD and who were not on medication. Factor VII antigen correlated significantly with total serum cholesterol, fasting serum triglycerides, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (p less than 0.01), and factor VII activity correlated with total and HDL cholesterol (p less than 0.05) in the men (n = 132); however, fibrinogen level did not correlate significantly with any lipid level in this group. We found no significant correlation of factor VII activity or antigen with any lipid levels in the women (n = 65). Our data support the hypothesis that control of plasma factor VII level is linked to lipid metabolism in normal physiology in men. Thus, factor VII level may reflect the mechanism by which male gender imparts added risk for IHD, independent of other established risk factors. This study also supports the use of the factor VII antigen assay, a highly reproducible method, in studies of the relation of factor VII to the risk of IHD.